ACAAN in Cards

Young magician John Gelasi presents another experiment in a classic plot: “B’wave”.

This new two-packet “B’wave” effect called Making Waves combines all of the best elements of countless variations into one stunning packet trick. Best yet, you end completely clean, and all the cards can be examined immediately at the conclusion of the trick!

Here’s the basic effect:

Two packets of cards are used: one blue, and one red. The audience is asked to imagine that the red cards are the four aces, and that the blue cards are the four Queens. An ace is touched (free choice), say...

ACAAN (Any card at any number) is regarded as the holy grail of card magic. Every magician out there has a version or two of his own. Couples CAAN is my addition to the plethora of work already existing on the subject. This trick is best done for a couple on any special occasion such as their anniversary or birthday. John chooses a card from the deck and Nancy thinks of a number. The chosen card is shuffled back into the deck and lost. The cards are dealt one by one. John’s chosen card is found at the number Nancy is thinking of. The magician congratulates the couple on being well connected. ...

This is a straight forward ACAAN that is very easy to do - one could say it is more or less a move-less method. You ask the spectator to name any card (no force, completely free choice). Then you ask them to cut a portion of the cards off the deck and count the cards. This is the free selection for a number. Again there is no force of any kind. The spectator can cut as little or as many cards as she wishes. Nevertheless, the card the spectator has chosen earlier ends up at the same number.

[Note: The method is deceptively simple. It will probably not fool most magicians, but it will fool the vast majority of laypeople. The advantage of this method is that it requires no preparation and no forcing of any kind.]

1st edition 2013, runtime 10 minutes....

A brand new take on the classic ACAAN effect that will leave your spectators stunned. This is more than a trick. It's an experience. This effect is powerful with a good presentation and there are so many places you can take the ideas within this short ebook. For $4, you can't go wrong. If you don't like something, feel free to shoot me an email letting me know. I'm very open to new ideas and I'm excited to share this one with you. Oh and if you don't like it at all, it's a money back guarantee. This is Thoughtless ACAAN.

• Completely hands off.
• No forcing named cards.
• No forcing named numbers....

A deceiving card control + an intrepid card move = An audacious card at any number

AMBIENCE CONTROL : A single card control from the middle of the deck to the top. Originally put out in The Blind Faith Collection (2015). It can also be used as a phase in an Ambitious Card Routine.

SAY STOP : A Selected Card At Any Number where you don't really need to know the number before hand. Originally put out in Audacious (2013) and as a bonus in C.I.A (2015).

Notes and Credits: Do not confuse Ambience Control to be same as Bizau Christian's Blind Square. They both are different. Say Stop was inspired from Paul Wilson's Yamfacaan. However...

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Vol. 4, No. 2, May 2008; 72 pages.

Cover: Singh

7. Welcome - editor's letter
8. Letters
9. News
10. She's Got The X-Factor - Ning (Part 2)
12. News
16. Joshua's [Jay] Balancing Act - Owen Packard - article
20. In Search Of The Holy Grail - ACAAN - Mark Leveridge - article
24. ACAAN Reviews
    • Autobahn - Dave Forrest
    • ACAAN - Stephen Tucker
    • Route 01 - Dave Forrest
    • Number At Card - in Some Tricks - Anthony Owen
    • Meant To Be ... - John Born
27. ACAAN Masterclass
    • EZ ACAAN - Marc Paul
30. South Tyneside Leads The Way - convention review by Graham Hey
36. Amardeep Singh Dahnjal: Dubai Yellowbrick Road!...

From the creator of the best-seller SCAMP comes a new effect based on the ACAAN plot. Although it is not the "Grail", it is direct to the point with a minimum of sleights and a few subtleties for a maximum impact!

EFFECT: The magician shuffles a deck of cards and asks a spectator to cut the deck a first time to determine a suit and a second time to determine a value (the suit and the value of the cards he cut to, let's say a Diamond and a 4). Then, the magician asks the spectator to imagine where his card may lie into the deck and thus, to think of any number. The spectator reveals he's thinking...

Five approaches to the popular 'Any Card At Any Number' problem that rely more on subtlety than sleight of hand. As the title implies, the approaches are uncomplicated and well within reach of the beginner in card magic. One of Baxter's most popular titles.

From the Preface:

[This effect previously appeared in the Mindvention 2009 lecture notes. If you have these notes you don't need to buy this.

You invite two spectators to help in this experiment. You remove a deck of cards casually show them face up while you remove the joker. They are placed face down on the table. You ask one of the spectators to cut off a block and look at a card. Not to remove it, just THINK of it. You really don't know what card the person is thinking about! The selection is made in the spectator's hands. The magician isn't touching the cards. The person doesn't write the card down, he merely thinks of it.

The deck is then picked up by you and mixed...

A self-working and examinable ACAAN effect with two decks.

EFFECT: The magician thoroughly shuffles a deck of cards. Then, the spectator cuts the deck to split it into two piles. Only now is he asked to create a random number in his mind. After a very quick and simple procedure, he writes his number down on a Post-it note - let's say, "13". He sticks it onto the card he cut to - let's say, the King of Diamonds. From a second deck - on the table from the start - he deals the cards one by one. Amazingly, the 13th card is the King of Diamonds!

Self-working. No gimmick. No extra card. Both...

The spectator shuffles the cards, and magi removes one card as an open prediction for all to see. A three-digit number is called by the spectator and the magi deals cards to the table to match each digit, leaving a random card to the side for each number. The three cards placed aside are then added up to the random number they achieve. With the deck now face down, that number is counted down to, and miraculously it reveals the mate to the prediction card initially laid on the table.

No dupes, no gimmicks, no tape, no magnets, no smoke, no mirrors, spectator shuffles, any 3 digits named. ...

An impromptu ACAAN with a borrowed deck.

The most interesting elements of this effect are:

• It can be done with a shuffled borrowed deck.
• You can do it completely impromptu.
• Any card can be chosen and any number can be named.

1st edition 2021, video 28:56

Although it does not meet all the criteria of a 'perfect ACAAN', this method still has many advantages:

• 100% impromptu and examinable
• deck is normal - it can be borrowed and shuffled by the participant
• ideal for close up and table hopping
• Very direct
• Very practical in live performance
• Strong impact on the audience
• Very simple to perform (from beginner to advanced but requires sleight-of-hand)
• Can be done with different sleights for the card control and for the counting. This allows you to repeat the effect.

• it is actually an 'Any Selected Card At Any Number', or what...

Dave just can't leave this plot alone. Here, on this 12 minute video download you'll learn perhaps his boldest method to date. A regular deck is thoroughly examined and shuffled by a spectator. A freely chosen number between 1 and 52 is written on a business card. A freely chosen card is written on a second business card. Both of these are locked inside the card case. The performer takes the deck and deals until the number is reached. Sure enough, the chosen card is found at the freely chosen number. The best news? There is a very cool gimmick in play which makes this whole thing practically...

This is an incredible ACAAN with two completely normal decks of cards. Really powerful and semi-automatic, so easy to do. A very important point is that it only takes 5 seconds to reset.

The spectator has the choice of one of two decks. She thinks of any card (totally free choice). This card is taken out of the deck, signed, returned, and the deck is cut several times. Then the second deck is shuffled and cut. The spectator cuts this deck into four piles which are arranged around the other deck of cards. The spectator has a free choice to either turn face-up two packs, and for the other...

Esoteric ACAAN is an effect with two completely normal decks of cards. No gimmick. An original method to perform the famous Any Card At Any Number effect. The spectator will be able to name any card. Instant reset. It's really easy to do. No sleight of hand.

1st edition 2022, video 18:21

EFFECT: A spectator shuffles a packet of number cards as much as he wants and deals through it to create a random number. Then, he deals through a blue-backed deck of playing cards (in which the magician put a red-backed prediction) and stops at his number. Let's say his card is the 7 of Clubs. Unbelievably, the red-backed prediction is the 7 of Clubs!

NB: The deck is always dealt face-up. Self-working. Happens in the hands of the spectator. Examinable. Quick reset. No gaff. Uses one regular deck and one red-backed card only. Includes a handling to perform it anytime during your act with...

As he shuffles a deck of playing cards, the magician talks about how cards and numbers have been used for centuries to predict the future and how it translates into his art. He writes down two predictions on the face of a random card and tables it face down. He grabs the deck and deals the cards two by two — top and bottom card together. At the stop of the spectator, he removes and tables the two selections.

Then, he reveals what he wrote on the prediction card: "27" and "35". The spectator combines the value of one selection (eg: 5 of Clubs) with the suit of the other one (eg: Queen of...

Wrong Turn is a fun and baffling approach to ACAAN that adds a kicker ending your spectators will never see coming. While most effects in this plot are telegraphed, this surprising twist strengthens the climax of the effect, further engaging your audience, while delivering even greater impact.

A deck of cards is displayed as the performer mentions he made a prediction in the deck. The spectator cuts to a card, remembers it, then returns it anywhere in the deck. The participant then thoroughly shuffles the cards so their selection is genuinely lost in the deck. Any number from 1 to 52 is...

A deck is borrowed. It is thoroughly shuffled by a spectator. The performer has any spectator think of any number between one and fifty-two, but not to reveal it to anyone until asked by the performer. Nothing is written down. The number is simply thought of. The performer now has a different spectator name any card. There is no force of any kind! After a very funny gag, the performer for the first time asks the spectator to reveal the number that he has merely been thinking of. Let us assume that the number is twenty three. Without any fumbling or manipulation of the deck, no cuts, no shuffles,...

A killer predicted card at any number effect.

Effect:

A deck of cards is introduced. The magician claims that there is a prediction in the deck which he will reveal in a moment. The spectator then names any number between 1 and 52. Say the number is 34. The magician deals down to that number and out-jogs the card. As the magician points out that any number could have been named, other cards are shown with totally normal backs. The selected card is then removed from the deck and turned over. Drawn on the back of the card is the number 34.

Simple. Direct. Powerful.

This is a knockout...

A new strategy to perform the legendary ACAAN effect. A fascinating principle that will allow you to perform a surprising effect without sleight of hand, completely self-working. A deck of cards with some numbers written on the back. One spectator chooses any card, another spectator chooses any number! Joseph B has received excellent feedback from the magic community for this effect.

• You have all the material at home to construct the deck
• Easy to reset (5 seconds reset)
• No gimmick
• No memory work (no memorized deck)
• No rough and smooth
• No sticky stuff

1st edition 2021, video...

This effect has such a subtle method. If you want to destroy your spectator with a killer effect, this is the one. This effect is a mix of impossible location, ACAAN and impossible revelation. Joseph has often used this effect as an opener and always got great reactions. You have all the material at home to construct the deck.

You introduce a deck of cards and instruct a spectator to cut about a third of the deck and place it to the side. The card cut to is remembered by the spectator and also put aside. The spectator shuffles the part cut off and the performer shuffles the remainder of...

This effect is undoubtedly a fooler. The magician will be able to cut to three cards that reveal the exact position of the spectator's card. Conditions are really impossible. A true miracle with a normal deck. Always great reactions from both magicians and laypeople. Always a different number.

After the magician gives the deck a shuffle, the spectator is asked to cut the deck about in half and to take from the lower portion some cards, shuffle them, remember the top card, and put them back on top of the lower portion of the deck. Then the spectator shuffles the top portion of the deck and...

Why do ACAAN with one deck when you can up the apparent impossibility with two decks? That's the beauty of Arbitrium.

Imagine removing a prediction card and placing it in your pocket. You then bring out two decks, one with numbered cards and one standard deck. The spectator makes an actual free choice from each deck, selecting one number and one playing card. The performer removes his prediction to show it not only matches the freely selected card, but it also has the chosen number boldly drawn on it. A double prediction and ACAAN combined.

The 50-minute video download covers multiple...

Young magician John Gelasi presents the first in a new ebook series full of fun, commercial card magic, all done with a regular deck of cards. This may be his best collection of pasteboard prestidigitation yet.

In Just Cards: Volume 1 are 5 new card effects, covering a wide variety of plots. All of the routines are effective and hard-hitting, yet relatively easy to do. You're sure to find something that you'll love performing.

Routines included:

Fine Feathered Finks: A no-palm "homing-card"-type routine where a selected card jumps between a packet of jacks and the deck.

Yes We CAAN:...

An amazing coincidence that goes beyond ACAAN.

Effect: The performer shows a blue deck of cards and shuffles it until he feels psychically inclined to stop. He really does not know the order of the cards. The deck is returned to its case and given to a participant to hold. The performer never touches the blue deck again. A red deck is now shown and shuffled by the performer. He has a second participant freely select a card from the red deck. The participant may change his mind, as there is no force. Next, a number is obtained by chance. No mathematics are involved and there is no force of...

ARCAAN is an ACAAN with two decks of cards that is not only very easy to do but a complete miracle. It works every single time and always with a different card. For fans of the theme, it is certainly a gem to try.

Two decks: one blue and the other red. The spectator chooses one. Let's say the red deck. The spectator cuts from the deck a completely random number of cards and then he counts them. Then he shuffles the deck and puts a Joker into the middle of the deck. The card on the right of the joker will be the suit and the card on the left will be the value. Now we have a random number...

This is an amazing semi-automatic A.C.A.A.N. effect (the acronym stands for: Any Random Card At Any Numbers' Sum), requiring no stooges or any sophisticated technique.

A case containing a deck of cards is placed by the magician in full view on the table, even before the effect begins. Spectators are asked to point to a card, starting with the suit and then deciding its value through two absolutely free choices of their own. Just to further demonstrate total arbitrariness, they are asked to point to some other value from 1 to 13 and the whole thing, including the previous choices, is noted...

This impromptu semi-automatic effect can be immediately performed in any situation in which a simple deck of cards is available. After having a spectator shuffle the deck, the magician will have her choose a number and a card in the most casual manner possible (by randomly raising two small packs of cards), have the viewer shuffle again and cut the deck several times, reassemble it, and propose to find her chosen card. But, after practically proving its impossibility by relying solely on chance or luck, he will remember that the spectator also secretly keeps a number in her mind and challenge...

The title of this eBook contains the well-known acronym for Any Card At Any Number, and illustrates my latest original and self-working version of the famous David Berglas' card magic effect, here featuring an original presentation and a devastating final surprise for the audience. Following is the presentation...

Some recurring rumors would report that NASA's delays with the launches of new rockets intended for planetary exploration are justified by problems with the "Countdown." Referring to this, the illusionist tells the audience how their engineers have recently allowed themselves to be convinced...

An incredible A.C.A.A.N. effect completely in the hands of the spectator.

The title of this eBook contains the acronym for "Any Card At Any Number," and in fact the new version explained here, incredibly automatic and completely hands-off, of this famous card magic and mentalism effect, is capable of surprising even many magicians (we can say this with full knowledge of the facts, having personally tested it in magic circles) and guaranteeing a "devastating" impact on the audience.

After introducing and quickly showing a normal deck of cards, the magician shuffles, and cuts, then places...

With Double A.C.A.A.N. you will perform exactly the miracle the title promises: using a simple deck of 52 cards that is unmarked and not gimmicked in any way, you will find first one and then another card, both random, after generating a number in an equally unusual and random way.

A special "pad" to be printed in A3+ size, made available as PDF, will be the ideal mat for performing the effect. The various boxes will be completed, first with the choice of a mystery card kept face down and then two uncovered cards, the union of whose suit and value attributes will form a new card absolutely...

A really clean and impeccable ACAAN.

What the audience sees and hears:

The Performer brings out a deck of cards and points to a person asking him to think of any card but not the Ace (as its common for people to go for it) and another person to think of a number between 1 and 48. He then proceeds to pull out the Aces meanwhile handing out small packets of cards to 4 different audience members and asks them to shuffle the cards thoroughly. While they are busy shuffling, the two audience members are asked to name their thought of card and the number for the first time.

Once the shuffling...

One of the simplest methods to perform the holy grail of card magic - Any Card At Any Number (ACAAN) with a regular pack of playing cards without any sleights.

This is what happens: You introduce 3 cards with 3 simple questions:

• Q1. Name a number
• Q2. Name a suit
• Q3. Name a value

Features:

• no forces
• no pre-show
• no dual reality ...

Love it or hate it but most of the numerous versions of ACAAN out there end up in the same ball park -- look what I can do or I manipulated your choices without your knowledge or simply as a coincidence. The Empirical ACAAN drifts from all of that, here is an ACAAN that makes people connect to each other. An ACAAN that is not about you but about the audience with virtually no sleight involved.

What’s great is that 70% of the times you'll have a hands-off / clean ACAAN and for the rest 30% you have to do something logical which is covered by the presentation to make it look like a hands-off...

For decades magicians are on a quest to perform Any Card At Any Number from a borrowed and shuffled deck; which isn't always possible so they often settle for Card At Any Number.

The problem is that Card At Any Number when presented as a one-time feat can be mistaken as a co-incidence or the skill of the performer which takes away the feeling of it being pure magic. Caantastic counters just that by creating a mother of all co-incidences moment for the audience. Card At Any Number not just once or twice but thrice and when it happens the third time it dilutes any skepticism and evokes the...

A virtually self-working ACAAN with plenty of audience involvement.

We all know whenever the audience tries to reverse engineer or recreate a trick and fail at it; they conclude with a common statement - He must have done something sneaky.

The Fortuitous ACAAN works to counter just that. It brings wonder out of the hands of the performer at the same time ensures that the control always rests with him. Here is how it goes:

A deck gets shuffled by 4 people while 3 other people decide on the Number, Value and Suit. The shuffled deck gets collected and the cards get dealt face-up and the...